The Walking Dead (from Telltale Games) - Catch All

Wow. Great ending and a great tease up to the last episode. Loved it.

Spoiler:

I was surprise that I was part of the 6% that decided to go alone! It seems like the next episode will be radically different on who goes with you or not.

I also had a nice internal "emotional arc" with Ben's character. I was really wanting to do nothing with that guy but Clementine made me change my mind. I can not be a monster around her after what I did to the brothers. Clementine watch me killed both and I felt horribly guilty about it.

I can not wait till the final episode comes out! Great stuff!

I have just played the whole of episode 4 and wow Telltale have done it again.
Seriously do not read this without finishing it first

Spoiler:

I talked Kenny into killing the kid in the attic
I lied to Vernon then told him that I need more time to think about his offer, not that it mattered.
I let Ben go, it seemed like the right thing to do at the time
I hid the bite and tried to go it alone but Kenny, good old Kenny is coming with me and now I feel like I have betrayed him
Also I had a horrible feeling that the leaders of Crawford would turn out to be Clem's parents, glad I was wrong about that one.

iaintgotnopants wrote:

I didn't think this episode was as good as the previous ones.

I enjoyed it, but I totally agree here. Episode 3 left me with multiple moments of "WTF? Can I reload a save and change that?" moments, while that kind of impact just never happened in Episode 4. I suppose that's almost a good thing given the incredible emotional roller coaster Episode 3 was.

I felt like it was less polished than the earlier ones. The animations didn't seem quite as smooth, which is to say that I actually noticed them for the first time.

iaintgotnopants wrote:

I didn't think this episode was as good as the previous ones.

Spoiler:

I was surprised that only 20% of people hid the bite from the group. What happens if you tell them? I would have assumed it meant you'd have to go alone at the end but the final group stats don't support that. I really wanted to go alone because I kind of hate all the other people but I ended up with Kenny and Ben because it seemed like what my character would do.

I assume it isn't possible to save Chuck since he isn't in any of the group possibilities. I found it annoying that I shot the zombie that he ended up attacking in the head five times and it didn't die presumably just so he would have to sacrifice himself.

Spoiler:

I've switched to a "pure honesty" policy, since lying doesn't seem to have any real benefit other than pissing people off down the line, so I was pretty much like, "hey guys, check out my bite!" They were shocked and horrified and dismayed, but promised Lee they had his back and wouldn't abandon him, especially not at a time like that. Kenny was reluctant, but finally agreed to help, too.

Ben was no longer with us because, come on. Come on.

Spoiler:

I told Kenny to kill the kid in the attic. It was pretty obvious he needed to do it, at least to me.
I was upfront with Vernon, but didn't choose whether to let him take Clem or not.
Clem came with me to Crawford, which I guess is good.
Ben dropped like a sack of potatoes. After his stunts? Not a damn chance I was letting him survive.
Let the group know about the bite... no point not doing so, I figure. Still, come ON... that pissed me off that it even happened.
Everyone alive came with me.

Probably my least favorite episode so far. Seemed more predictable, less intense than the others. Hopefully, it's just table setting for the finale.

Spoiler:

I think part of my displeasure with this episode was the focus on the boat. At least with the train in Episode 3, there was the thought that things might be different on the coast, etc. But where the heck are they going to go in a motor boat? They'll have no food, no water, no destination. Just doesn't seem as good a plan to me, so I wasn't as invested in the objective. Also, with all the character, um, turnover in Episode 3, I didn't feel as attached to the others, with the obvious exception of Clem.

Oh, and I talked Kenny into shooting the boy in the attic, told Vernon to f*ck off, and let Ben go when he asked me to. (Kids these days.) I also came clean about my bite and despite Kenny being a prick about it (like everything) I convinced him and the others to come with me to find Clementine.

Crockpot wrote:

Wow. Great ending and a great tease up to the last episode. Loved it.

Spoiler:

I was surprise that I was part of the 6% that decided to go alone! It seems like the next episode will be radically different on who goes with you or not.

I also had a nice internal "emotional arc" with Ben's character. I was really wanting to do nothing with that guy but Clementine made me change my mind. I can not be a monster around her after what I did to the brothers. Clementine watch me killed both and I felt horribly guilty about it.

I can not wait till the final episode comes out! Great stuff!

I am one of those six percent as well. Also, this was the first time I reloaded to try a different answer, but in a very unusual part I guess:

Spoiler:

it was when I told Clem we will not be looking for her parents. First time I lied to her and it just felt so awful when she cried. I just had to reload. Father hormones I guess.

Also, the whole episode just had a totally different tension than the ones before. Very Hitchcock-like: so much to fill in in your imagination, with tension building up slowly, but surely and ominously.

I've had a lot of fun with this episode so far, and, knock on wood, I haven't had any stuttering issues. I have, however, had one audio drop-out issue when a character was talking - had to guess what she said based on my possible responses.

I like to play the episodes over two nights, and I stopped last night when Lee had to find a quarter. I hope my judgement was decent and that was about half way through!

Rubb Ed wrote:
Spoiler:

I told Kenny to kill the kid in the attic. It was pretty obvious he needed to do it, at least to me.

Spoiler:

Why was that obvious? Seemed like reliving killing Duck again would be a horrible thing to do. Not that I like Kenny. He's not in my group. I told him to f*ck off.

"I've been keeping score, Lee." Ok, fine. How many times have you run away or done something equally as stupid or rash as Ben? Dumbass.

This episode was good but didn't have the strongness (sure, that works) that Ep 3 did. When this episode was over I definitely started thinking about Ep 5 but not like 3 to 4. Either way it was still awesome to play through

I thought this episode was so-so, particularly after the thoroughly awesome Episode 3, and then I had a really major objection:

Spoiler:

When you had to tell Clem you weren't going to find her parents? The f*ck? That's the whole reason you were there. There's no freaking way I'd leave that city without trying very conscientiously to find her folks.

I would have stayed in Savannah with Clem, and let everyone else go on, if necessary.

More generally: it seems to me that the game is suffering from the Bioware effect; they want to give you choices, but then the combinatorial explosion of outcomes overwhelms them, and they end up ignoring or trivializing them.

McChuck wrote:
Spoiler:

Why was that obvious? Seemed like reliving killing Duck again would be a horrible thing to do. Not that I like Kenny. He's not in my group. I told him to f*ck off.

"I've been keeping score, Lee." Ok, fine. How many times have you run away or done something equally as stupid or rash as Ben? Dumbass.

Spoiler:

I made him kill the kid because I think he needed to do it for closure and to makesure that when the time comes, he would be able to step upto the plate. Also he is no way as bad as Ben when it comes to being a complete idoit. I mean when he takes the axe out of the door? Jesus Christ, didn't he see all the zombies behind it? That is why I had to let him go, the only thing he ever did for the group was brave self sacrifice.

I haven't even played Episode 3 yet, and now I see Episode 4 is out? I think at this point I'm just going to wait until Episode 5 is released, and pick a week or two to dedicate to playing through the whole season in one go.

Not very happy with the last few minutes of the game, but overall I enjoyed the experience. Not a whole helluva lot of "OMG!" moments, but it did the job and entertained me for a few hours.

My final stats:

Spoiler:

-Talked Kenny into killing the kid
-Saved Ben
-Took Clem with me on the raid
-Told Vernon to get lost
-Told about the bite
-Ended up with everyone except Ben to help look. I wanted the "Kenny, get over yourself" option, but picked the other one.

Not sure what to make of the fact that nearly every decision was in the 80%/20% ratio... kind of makes it seem like there are many more "obvious" solutions here than in previous episodes.

As for the bite at the end... I just kept screaming "get the f*cking hatchet!" in my head the whole time. Everyone seemed WAY too nonchalant about the whole thing. Guess we know now that "season two" will not include our main-man Lee. Shall we take bets know as to whether Clementine is going to be the one to put the bullet in his head at the end of episode five?

Didn't much care for Chuck, but it was a little odd that he died so quickly into the episode.

Parkour Ninja Molly Ringwald was enjoyable, if a bit cliched.

Sort of a let-down that the whole settlement was built up and then deflated... most of the most powerful scenes from the comic come from human on human violence. Maybe they felt they'd done it already, but it seemed almost like a cheat-- it's much easier to make a bunch of zombies than a town full of nuts.

Kind of agree with Malor about the parents thing at the end. Tying it in with the whole "mysterious voice" thing from episode three, it seemed REALLY weird that they never tried to do anything with the radio the entire fourth episode... and sure, most likely her parents are dead, but it was a really weird way of dealing with it. "We don't have enough time"? Felt more like a plot-railroading decision than one evolving naturally from the characters.

Speaking of railroading... I assume that was Vernon's reference? "Oh, BTW, the herd has followed you into Savannah"?

Also agree that the boat plan is a bit off at this point. a 30 footer? In the ocean? With five people? Where woud they even go? Why would that be any better than just driving a vehicle out into the countryside? It's not like they could live on it in any capacity. But, I guess that's the way it is with desperate plans-- you keep going with them even when they don't make much sense any more.

All in all, despite not being the "best thing ever," this has definitely been an exceptional gaming experience. It's taken the source material seriously, and done a pretty good job adapting it into a gaming environment. Looking forward to episode five.

onewild wrote:

[spoiler][spoiler]Also I had a horrible feeling that the leaders of Crawford would turn out to be Clem's parents, glad I was wrong about that one.

Well, way back in episode one it seemed very clear that Clem's dad had been bitten-- one of the voicemail messages says something like "your father got into an 'incident' with a crazy person and had to go to the hospital." Granted, that's not definitive proof, and even if it was, her mother could still be alive. [/spoiler][/spoiler]

McChuck wrote:
Rubb Ed wrote:
Spoiler:

I told Kenny to kill the kid in the attic. It was pretty obvious he needed to do it, at least to me.

Spoiler:

Why was that obvious? Seemed like reliving killing Duck again would be a horrible thing to do. Not that I like Kenny. He's not in my group. I told him to f*ck off.

"I've been keeping score, Lee." Ok, fine. How many times have you run away or done something equally as stupid or rash as Ben? Dumbass.

Spoiler:

It just seemed to me like he was beating himself up because he couldn't do this for his own kid, so maybe it'd help him get over that by doing it for someone else's kid, like Lee did for him in my playthrough. Then again, it looks like you're not a fan of Kenny. I just see him as being... exuberant. Stupid at times, but exuberant. I get that.

[quote=onewild]

Spoiler:

I mean when he takes the axe out of the door? Jesus Christ, didn't he see all the zombies behind it?

/quote]

Spoiler:

Nope, if you notice near the end of the school scene, the windows were completely covered in blood and you couldn't see the zombies on the other side. Granted, blood should have been an indicator and the noise they made.

Prediction about Episode 5:

Spoiler:

The guy we saw in a suit in the alley will turn out to be attic-boy's father. He will probably not be the man on the walkie-talkie, but will be helping him in some way. Mr. Suit supports kidnapping Clementine out of revenge, thinking that you killed his son (not realizing that the son had starved to death and become a zombie). When the walkie-talkie guy kills Clementine and she re-animates, Mr. Suit understands what had happened to his son, kills walkie-talkie guy, and leaves the player with a heartbreaking choice. Leave Clementine as a zombie and press on with the group, knowing that you'll turn at some point, kill Clementine and press on with the group, or find some place to hole up with Clementine until you turn, so you'll both wander the earth as zombies together.

Yeah, it's grim - but it's the Walking Dead, after all.

cyrax wrote:

I thought 3 was strong, but this episode was a dud.

It was a far cry from being a dud. 3 is really only beating 4 due to the shock factor. It really wasn't any different.

It's good to hear people say what I'm thinking, that quality-wise this episode was not sunshine and lollipops. I'd been hesitant to comment before now because of all the glowing praise I'd seen before, and didn't want to be a downer. I still find the overall package enjoyable, and more good than bad, but I feel it's a very flawed production. The articulated animations, and some general ones early on, are just not good. Don't even get me started on the atrocious checkpoint system. The invisible walls are a nice touch, too. So much more, but I don't think I need to nag.

I thought 3 was strong, but this episode was a dud. Though, the thriller moments were definite highlights. SommerMatt has alot of it right. There wasn't much story, dialogue, or moments that I felt were strong or fresh. About the only memorable line was Clem's comment on Ben and the situation, when things came to a head. I enjoy hearing from him, and his work's been good in the recent past, but I can't see what Gary Whitta brought here. Even if I think on Ep.1, which was the weakest before this, I can recall memorable lines or interactions.

Spoiler:

I did like the very end. I could see people feeling it was a forced turn, but I just saw it as something unfortunate that could just happen. No rhyme or reason or purpose, an accident. I actually felt relief for Lee.

PS f*ck Ben. I really wish they would've let me shoot him on the bell, but it felt good to hear his screams. I've wanted a similar fate for Kenny, but seeing as my character's dead now, there's a hole where my vengeance was.

edit: Oh, I forgot about the ammo cache Lee keeps around. Bravo for the better action sequences, but where is all that ammo coming from?

You can have your own opinions, I felt like it was a dud. And the shock factor, which is a slight exaggeration, goes a long way to making me feel something.

cyrax wrote:

It's good to hear people say what I'm thinking, that quality-wise this episode was not sunshine and lollipops. I'd been hesitant to comment before now because of all the glowing praise I'd seen before, and didn't want to be a downer.

As someone who recorded a podcast looking at a single TV show for over four seasons and who tries to take the title of "reviewer" seriously at times, it makes me sort of sad to see this kind of sentiment being expressed.

The internet is really good at hyperbolizing content (it's either the "best thing evar!" or "the worst thing since Hitler!") so that it's extremely difficult to have a simple discussion on the merits/problems with any given property. If you have an issue with something and can explain where you're coming from, there's absolutely NOTHING wrong with doing so.

That certainly doesn't mean that people can't love something and still post explaining WHY they loved it. Both sides are necessary.

I listed a couple points, and noted yours. Just has to do with my time. Sorry to not elaborate, I'd rather spend my time otherwise. I tend to ramble.

cyrax wrote:

I listed a couple points, and noted yours. Just has to do with my time. Sorry to not elaborate, I'd rather spend my time otherwise. I tend to ramble. :|

Wasn't asking you for more... was just pointing out that people can and SHOULD express their opinions without fear of busting the "happiness bubble"

SommerMatt wrote:
cyrax wrote:

I listed a couple points, and noted yours. Just has to do with my time. Sorry to not elaborate, I'd rather spend my time otherwise. I tend to ramble. :|

Wasn't asking you for more... was just pointing out that people can and SHOULD express their opinions without fear of busting the "happiness bubble"

I see! And yes, expressing myself is something I need to work on. Talking on forums helps, for sure.

I didn't enjoy it as much as the last couple episodes, but I'm still enjoying the overall experience. I'm curious to see how the final episode will go with the various choices.

The only thing I really disliked about the episode is

Spoiler:

walkie-talkie on the ground, arm's reach from a turned over dumpster covered with a piece of cardboard. Hmmmm..... I think there's about a 70% chance there's going to be something behind that....

It's odd to see all of this negativity about the new episode since all the podcast people I have been listening to have been pumping up Gary Whitta as the writer. I guess it's worse when you hold it up to all the stuff that went down in the previous episodes. I'm only about 45 minutes in but I seem to be enjoying it alright. There are some lulls but overall, I think it's working.

I loved it, just more awesome if you ask me.

I don't think this was the strongest of the episodes of the 4 that have been published (3 still wins that one for me), but I don't think it was a poor episode either. Lots of action, lots of tense moments, and fortunately

Spoiler:

the chance to off that waste of space Ben

. It's still one of the best games I've played this year, but I think the writing has been stronger in earlier episodes.

How has Gary Whitta conned all these people into thinking he's some sort of big deal?